End protector



Jan. 6, 1942.

H. HICKS i END PROTEGTOR Filed Dec. 22, 1959 v v haven/02': //0W4/0 M 60066,

in section;

mgureiiisanendview; Figure3 isasectio view on the line IIL- -III ofFigure 1; and

it isdesirable to Patented Jan. 6, 1942 2,269,198 1am) rao'rno'roa' i 1111mm. Hicks. McKeespoi-t, mum... to

National Tube Company,

Application December,

1 Claim. (01. 138-96) This invention relates to end protectors,. and more particularly to those. which are used on the ends of tubular articles such as pipes, couplings and the like. More specifically, the invention relates to those devices which are used for completely closing the ends of tubular articles whereby the extremity of'the wall and also the interior surfaces are protected from injury.

As an instance of adaptability of the device of the present invention, reference is made to unthreaded pipes the ends for welding and also to interiorly at the construction" site, threaded pipe couplings which are screwed on the ends of the pipe prior to shipment and/or storage. ,Itis extremely important that articles of both types be maintained against injury up to the time of their usage, and numerous been proposed for However, the devices am aware are usually ture, complex to install service.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide an end protector fortubular arti cles which is inexpensive to' manufacture, extremely easy to installand remove, and one which is, at the .same time; durable iniservice.

The invention, then, hereinafter fu y. described and-'as particularly accomplishing this end.

devices have; heretofore a corporation of New I 22, 1929, Serial No. 310,621

of the wall, but also the interior of the article in order to prevent possible injury thereof.

According to the teachings of the present invention, there is provided a disk-like coverplate 3 which entirely covers the end of the tubular article 2 and carries on its periphery an annular flange 4 which encloses the adjacent portion of the exterior wall. Disposed within the tubular which are usuallyxscarfed on article 2, and in contact with theinterior face of the disk-like cover vplate 3, there is disposed the flat base portion 5 of a saddle comprising inwardly extending'right-angular portions 5, the

ofthe prior art of which 1.20 either costly tomanufacand remove, or fragile in,

. maintain the spring 8 in such plate 2, are apertured in'alignment to accommo- I 'extends-the'rethrough and, 1

comprises the features a the head ofwhich 'seats'against the inner and v pointed out in the claim, the following description and the annexed invention, this being vention may be employed.

-Insaiddrawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus of the. present inventi Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line Iii-IV ofFigure 1.

Referring more particularly to} the drawing,

' the numeral 2 designatesa tubular article which,

in the present instance, is shown as comprising the end of a cylindrical pipe having afsubstamtially constant wall thickness. 3 The extremity of the tubular article 2 and also the adiacent interior wall thereof may be scarred or. mechined, or the interionwallmay lie-screwthreaded for purpoees'of construction, whereby ,part of which is shown 7 shieldlnot only extremi y N which the disk-like cover plate screw-threaded *end of teriorly of the disk-lilre .vided'with anut ii. In 7 ofthe spring 9 there is disposed between the inner surface of thebase portion 1 of'the outer extremities of which are provided with rectangularly shaped grooves'8. A flexible metallic strip metal spring 2 is disposed within the. tubular article 2 and is of such size and shape as to assume a concave-convex form when'its ends are in contact with the interior surface thereof, the concave portion facing the disk-like cover plate 3 and the adjacently disposed-inwardly extending right-angular, portions 6' of the saddle referred tohereinbefore.

spring 2 is such as to enable. its accommodation in the rectangularly shaped grooves I in the ends of the portions 6 of-the saddle; and in order to I 'positionthe latter, the base portion I oi -the saddle .and'the-cover date a belt I. which therefore convexjlportion of the spring. The

.the bolt lllextendsexcover plate 2v and is pro order to maintain'the desired shape cave, surface 'of the spring 9 a tubular spacer sleeve l2 through which the bolt It extends.

The saddle,- comprising the base portion 5, inwardly extending right-angular portions 6, and rectangularly shaped grooves '2 in the outer ends of the latter, serves to guide; the entry of the spring 8 into the tubul'arfarticle 2; and also is equalize the pressureof'thespring against the interior surfacejof said tubular article. a The bolt l0 and the spacer sleeve l2 serveto limit the spring action as wellas to properly position the spri 2 g I From the foregoing it will be seen that the spring 2, bolt Ill, jspacer sleeve i2 and saddle comprising the portion and inwardly extending right-angularportions i may be easily inserted in the endof the tubular article 2, after 2 and nut ll may The width of the saddleeandrthe outer, and therefore conbe applied, and the nut ll so adjusted as to force the spring 9 to properly grip the interior surface of the tubular article 2. The removal of the device of the invention is accomplished in the converse manner.

While I have shown and described one specific embodiment of the present invention, it will be seen that I do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the following claim.

I claim:

An end protector for tubular articles com tion facing said cap, a substantially u-shaped member disposed between said cap and said strip, the legs of said U-shaped member being extended toward said strip and having recesses in the extremities thereof to receive said strip at points adjacent the ends of the latter, the ends of said strip being of substantially constant width to permit the unrestrained movement thereof in the recesses in the extremities of the legs of said U-shaped member, a bolt extending through the approximate centers of said cap, said U-shaped member, and said strip, whereby the center portion of said strip may be influenced toward said U-shaped member to thereby press the extremities oi said strip into contact with the tubular article, and a tubular spacer carried by said bolt and disposed between said strip and said U-shaped member.

HOWARD M. HICKS. 

